The Forget-Me-Not
by Koreigu
Summary: Dave Strider moves into a new apartment and befriends his neighbor Tavros Nitram. Tavros has had a rough life, and Dave has no clue how he's still standing with a bright smile on his face. As Tavros shows Dave how to embrace life, secrets are shared and Tavros' world shatters. Contains some humor, & sexual scenes. Also fantasy due to Tavros communicating with animals. HUMANSTUCK!
1. Doctor Phil

**Yay for my first fanfic~ Basically, this story gets very sad due to backstories, and some turn of events. But in practically every chapter, there's lighthearted humor with some bitchtits terms and Dave's sometimes comic relieving moments, as well as some happy moments and a brightening aspect on life. The title will make sense later on in the story. Please, don't stop reading until the end! :)**

**Also here's a warning, later on in the story there will be scenes of animal abuse, but in the beginning of the chapter there will be a warning.**

**P.S: I do not own homestuck Andrew Hussie does, and the fantasy purpose in this story is only due to Tavros communicating with animals, they won't really talk to him, but he gets the vibe XD**

* * *

Carrying a heavy and bulky suitcase up the staircase of his new apartment complex, Dave Strider was in a vigorously dark mood at the moment. Hauling heavy baggage up three flights of stairs in the new summer heat was not an enjoyable activity.

Many occupants of the apartment passed by him, not offering any help. One motherfucker passing by had some horn with him and thought it'd be funny to scare the shit out of him. With a loud 'HONK' of the horn Dave was startled and dropped his bags to the bottom of the current staircase. Dave scowled at the guy who chuckled in return and continued up the stairs. 'Asshole.' Dave thought accusingly, going back down to retrieve his suitcase.

Finally the Strider boy made it to his apartment on the third floor. In the complex, there were four floors. He set this suitcase along side his other two. The apartment already looked like home, he'd came earlier a few weeks ago to furnish his new crib to make it stylish and ready for his official arrival. He took a short five minute break, drinking some apple juice- he was sure it was apple juice this time- before bringing his suitcases into his room for some unpacking of his wardrobe which consisted of mostly t-shirts and jeans.

Well, the worst was over. At least now he was away from the direct heat of the sun... actually it was just as humid in this apartment as it was outside. Dave doesn't have an air conditioner, he focused more on other things in the moment, he didn't really care for buying an AC. He greatly regretted this. But, he did have a fan at least, which he turned on facing him as he slumped back in his decent looking dark red sofa.

His apartment consisted of simply one bedroom, and one bathroom, a kitchen, and living room. Other apartments in this complex had more rooms, and were more spacey but they also cost more. Dave was perfectly fine with what he's got right now. The white-ish carpeting beneath his feet was soft, there was a poster here and there adorning the red painted walls which also had some white border at the top towards the white ceiling. The kitchen was connected to the living room, there was tiling there instead of carpet, and there wasn't exactly a dining area, but there was enough space to put a small round wooden 'dinner' table with two chairs at the edge of the living room, close to the kitchen.

Dave has a large 70 inch flat screen TV atop a small 'cabinet' containing an assortment of totally sick beats, action movies, or some sugoi anime. This Strider had a wide variety of interests, as you can see. He is a DJ at a nearby nightclub and gets paid a fair amount of money for it. He's just really good at what he does.

At some point, the next-door neighbor decided blasting some sick beats was a good idea. By then it was around 8:00 PM. Among the pulsing music Dave could hear a variety of 'honks'. Oh fuck no, was that asshole from earlier living next to him?

Contrary to popular belief, Dave Strider is a nice guy, he was hoping he could befriend his neighbors, but this one living in apartment 124, the last apartment on that floor, to the east, was making it difficult for Dave to keep his good intentions alive.

He was thinking about being an ass, and telling his neighbor to tone down the music. As he made his way out of his own apartment, he came to an abrupt stop as he saw someone outside of his neighbor's door. Dave, hesitantly closed his door, but only was open a crack for him to peak out at whoever this was.

Yeah, he was right, it WAS that asshole from earlier. But as Dave listened, he found out this guy was just visiting.

"That was bitchtits wicked, Tavbro." The asshole said to the one on the inside of the apartment, Dave couldn't really see this person though.

The one inside laughed wholeheartedly, it was a guy, but he sounded pretty wimpy according to Dave.

"It was uh... pretty fun, Gamzee. I'll see you around. Come again soon, I mean, if you want to."

"Hella yes, bro," Dave saw the asshole- Gamzee lean in to give the wimp a hug. "I'll be online for the rest of this motherfuckin' summer, text a motherfucker whenever. Okay? See you around Tavbro." Gamzee waved goodbye as Tavbro bid farewell, and it took a few seconds after gamzee left for Dave to hear Tavbro close his door.

Dave was through feeling like some mental creeper, and quietly closed his door. The loud music next door was still blasting, but it was a few seconds later when he heard it stop.

Dave reflected on his stalking session he partook in just now. That Gamzee asshole was pretty tall, around 6 feet approximately. His voice was scratchy and sounded like he had a southern drawl, just like Dave. He suspected this asshole was from Texas, Dave could call out a fellow Texan anywhere based on accent. He guessed this made the guy 5% cooler...? Nah, still an asshole.

As for the other guy, he sounded like a scrawny kind of guy- simple as that, not like there was anything wrong with that. And he stuttered. Dave picked up some hardcore therapist shit from his distant cousin, Rose, and could decipher a lot from pretty much anything. One with such a high pitched, cautious voice as this Tavbro's directed back to him probably having some kind of lanky body. As for the stutter, definitely a sign of some self consciousness. Probably got bullied for having such a skinny ass body. Hmmm...

"Damn, Dr. Phil aint' got nothing on me."

Okay, enough with some of that random assumptions. The neighbor's music was turned off, and Dave was finally able to get some rest. His back ached, as well as his shoulders and neck from all of the heavy lifting. If Dave had to lift anything over 70 lbs in the next 24 hours, he was going to strangle someone. He continued on, ending his day with a nice hot shower, then hitting the hay.


	2. Fishdicks and Terezi

**Sorry if I made any mistakes in any of the characters' typing quirk/ way of typing, some are just too difficult to perfect hehe**

* * *

It's been just a few weeks since Dave moved into this new apartment and nothing new has been happening. It's still hot as fuck in his apartment, and that scrawny guy next door still occasionally plays some sick beats with that Gamzee asshole. He still hasn't had a good look at the guy, but it wasn't killing him to know.

It was finally the weekend, usually the weekends were the busiest days in Dave's work, but he already worked his ass off last night. They could get some of the other DJ's to play this night.

Instead of getting ready for a night of work, Dave was laying on his couch, Laptop in hand. He recently downloaded this cool chat application that all of his friends use. Sure texting was fun, but this thing had more features. Pesterchum was it's name.

Dave was chatting with his closest bro John Egbert when a new chat box popped up, indicating someone has pestered him.

AT: uHH, HEY

TG: wassup

Dave didn't usually get surprise chats from strangers except for this one douchebag. His chumhandle was TerminallyCapricious. The asshole was so annoying, and it was hard to read the random capitalization, let alone actually understand it. But Dave always put him in his place causing the guy to just leave him alone, much to Dave's enjoyment.

AT: dO YOU LIKE TO EAT UH,,,

AT: fISHSTICKS?

What the fuck was this guy getting at...?

AT: FiShDicKs

Was he trying to troll him or something? He sure as hell sucked at it- and that last pattern of typing seemed familiar. Dave had nothing better to do, he might as well fuck with this guy.

TG: hell yeah bro

TG: my appetite yearns for nothing but some totally sick fishdicks

TG: love them in my mouth

It kept saying this guy was typing, but it stopped occasionally.

AT: uH,,,

TG: you know what i love best about them?

AT: wHAT,,,?

TG: they got that wicked fishy smell going on

Incidentally, Dave could hear some erratic laughing next door.

TG: intoxicates me you know?

TG: so enticing

TG: how could i ever refuse a plump, delicious, fishy fishdick?

AT: tHATS NOT RIGHT,

TG: you asked bro

TG: why cant i hold all of these fishdicks?

TG: you want some, bro?

AT: nO, i DONT THINK THATS REALLY, uH,,, GOOD FOR YOU,

TG: oh... are you jealous?

AT: hElLa YeS

AT: uH,,, i MEAN NO, NOT AT ALL,

Dave could hear more laughing from next-door.

TG: i see

TG: so you would prefer something even better?

AT: uH,,,

TG: i've got a friendly one eyed snake

TG: he intimidates some people due to his size

AT: rEALLY?

TG: yeah, poor guy hasnt been touched in days

TG: he needs some company

AT: aWWW,

AT: yOU SHOULD PROBABLY, uH,, SPEND MORE TIME WITH HIM,

TG: yeah man... maybe i should

AT: i LIKE SNAKES }:)

TG: what do you like most about them?

AT: tHEY'RE FRIENDLY WHEN THEY AREN'T, uH,,, HUNGRY.

Dave was shocked. Did this guy understand his sexual innuendo, or was he just completely oblivious?

TG: well mine has only one eye

AT: aWWW

TG: maybe you two could meet one day... ;)

The laughing next- door ceased, but occasional honking was heard. Dave grew to hate that fucking noise since he moved here, it meant that asshole Gamzee was visiting. Back to the pesterlog, adiosToreador stayed silent for a while until;

AT: FuCk OfF

adiosToreador has ceased pestering turntechGodhead.

adiosToreador has blocked turntechGodhead.

Now Dave was laughing hysterically. He hoped AT would talk to him again sometime, teasing this guy was so enlightening, even if it meant creeping him out all over again. It was very much worth it!

Going back to his previous conversation with John- also known as EB [ ectoBioligist ] on Pesterchum.

EB: hello?

TG: dude, you won't believe this

TG: ive never laughed so much in my entire life

EB: what could be so hilarious that got you to crack like this?

TG: some guy wast apparently trying to pull a prank on me

TG: asking me if i liked fishdicks

TG: i went along with it to fuck around with his psyche

TG: oh man i made him speechless

TG: then i went on to talk about my one eyed snake

EB: dave, why?

TG: but bro

TG: he took me seriously

TG: like i literally had a snake that lost an eye

EB: you probably scared him away with that kind of talk!

TG: yeah man he blocked me

TG: i cant fathom why

EB: oh wow Dave

EB: that is yet another user's block list with your chumhandle on it

EB: can you get kicked off for being blocked by over fifteen users orrrrr...?

TG: if so then im fucked

TG: in that case i would name my new chumhandle fishDicks

EB: ...

EB: you are an incredibly interesting person!

TG: haha i know man i know

EB: i have had a swell time pestering you

EB: but Dad just made another cake and there is no way he will get me to consume that Betty Crocker garbage

TG: run for your life bro!

EB: I WILL

ectoBiologist ceased pestering turntechGodhead.

That sure was a swell chat just as John said. This afternoon was very enlightening, Dave thought.

Continuing on with Dave's perfect night, he decided he would check up on his blog. What he posted was mostly updates on his DJ-ing schedule, what clubs he would be preforming in, and pictures. Although not a widespread DJ, Dave was pretty well known in his line of work. He was an expert with mixing, as he's been doing this since a young age back when he lived in Houston.

As he opened the homepage to his blog, it wasn't anything new when he saw he had many notifications. But what caught his sight was that someone sent him a note through the website. He got notes every now and then, and they were usually important or from someone important.

Scrolling over to the note icon, Dave opened the message to his screen. It was sent to him by gallowsCalibrator. That username sounded familiar... Brushing off the feeling of familiarity, Dave continued on with the rest of the note.

'H3Y D4V3 R3M3MB3R M3 :?'

With just reading that first line Dave felt a wave of shock overcome him. He knew that text and questionmarked face anywhere! It was his high school girlfriend, Terezi Pyrope. They had some fun times together back in school. Together they had sloppy makeouts, fun trolling on the computer, and drew some hella sick pics for each other. In the end, the wanting for an end in the relationship was mutual. Both teens felt as if they would be better off as just friends, and that they were meant for other people.

They were planning on going to the same college together, but Terezi had a secret she was apparently planning to keep until last minute- and it shocked and saddened Dave. Right when Dave was explaining how his college application was accepted, Terezi gave him a somber expression, telling him how she had a scholarship to the country's best law school. It had been her dream since she was a young girl to get into a great law school such as this, and so she was extremely happy, but sad because she had to leave her best friend.

Anyway, Dave read on.

' 1 H4V3 4 V3RY 1MPORT4NT C4S3 1 MUST FULF1LL... 1T TURNS OUT THE M4N 1 4M D3FEND1NG L1VES 1N YOUR AR3A! 1 PROB4BLY SHOULDN'T SP34K OF TH3 C4SE THROUGH TH3 COMPUT3R, 4ND 1 W1LL 3XPLA1N 1T 1N D3PTH L4T3R. 1 UND3RST4ND YOU JUST MOV3D 1NTO YOUR N3W 4P4RTM3NT (1 L34RNED TH1S THROUGH 4 MUTU4L FR13ND OF OURS...) 1 W4S WOND3R1NG... C4N YOU L3ND M3 YOUR 4P4RTM3NT 4S 4 T3MPOR4RY PL4C3 TO ST4Y? 1 UND3RST4ND HOW SUDD3N TH1S MUST B3, 4ND W1TH MY UPMOST R3SP3CT TOW4RDS YOU D4V3, 1 4POLOG1ZE, BUT WH3N YOU L3T M3 3XPL41N MOR3 L4T3R, YOU W1LL UND3RSTAND.

S1NC3R3LY, T3R3Z1 PYROP3.

Dave had to reread the strangely typed note several times before completely understanding. Damn Terezi always had some great politeness and vocabulary when speaking, but he never thought she would talk to Dave in this way. It was not something bad, but it brought him down a bit. He would hope Terezi hadn't changed much and he hoped that just because they went to separate colleges, it didn't change that they were best friends.

But on the bright side, Terezi was requesting a place to stay due to an occurrence in her line of work, this would prove to be a great chance to catch up and make things a little less boring around here... Well the part with the fishdicks was actually the best thing ever.

Dave began to type a reply, he typed in his usual no-punctuation and capitalization way. Of course he would accept Terezi into his new apartment, he typed how he didn't mind and how cool it would be to catch up. He pressed send.

Given just half an hour, and Terezi replied back. She said her thanks and they exchanged phone numbers to make communication easier. She made it clear when she would arrive and Dave was truthfully excited. She said she purchased tickets for a flight that would fly next week. After exchanging information on her own arrival, they then bid each other goodnight and set aside their phones. It was official! Terezi would be temporarily living with Dave by next week.


	3. Gloomy

**Anyway Vriska appears in this chapter. Today she was feeling happier than usual for some reason and decided to treat Tavros like an actual human being, so she may seem a bit out of character until later on when she loses her patience.**

**Please leave a review! :3**

* * *

It's been just a few days since Terezi notified Dave of her future arrival, and things have been going smooth for him. It's Monday, which meant Dave had work. As a DJ, you don't get a lot of business on Mondays, but this is summer we're talking about. People will go to clubs practically everynight in the summer, especially the weekends. But Dave got out of having to play during the weekends sometimes. His excuse was that he deserved some time off too, which actually made sense pretty much.

After sleeping in (it was around 3:00, Dave went to sleep last night at 4 AM) Dave saw the time and decided he should be getting ready for the his mixing act tonight. Tonight's act was taking place in a club that was deeper in the city, which was about an hour away from Dave's apartment. The act started at 8:30, but he was reuired to arrive at 6 so Dave quickly ate breakfast- or lunch since it was 3 PM- then got washed up.

Once Dave was done with his before-work routine of checking his mixing equipment, he left his apartment, driving off towards the populated and crowded city.

* * *

Be the Paraplegic

* * *

The door next door slammed hard. Tavros' new neighbor had been slamming the door since the first day he moved here, and it never ceases to catch him by surprise, each and everytime.

Tavros was jolted awake by the sound. His eyes were wide for a few seconds, until he relaxed on his bed. 'It's just the neighbor's door of course...' He thought, feeling releived of his previous state of shock. He tried to sit up from his current laying position on his bed, but was held down by an arm that was wrapped around his torso.

He turned to see Gamzee was fast asleep next to him, and he suddenly felt really self conscious. "Gamzee.? Gamzee, wake up," Tavros prodded the larger man beside him, trying to wake him up. Gamzee groaned and turned so that now his back was facing Tavros. Tavros sighed, and looked at him worriedly.

These two are best friends, inseparable best friends. They would usually hang out from time to time, casting some sick beats with wicked rhymes at each other, and trolling people online.

As a matter of fact, last night him and Gamzee went on Pesterchum and decided it was a good idea to troll some people. Gamzee had someone in mind, and told Tavros the username as he began to troll. He was never that good at it, so Gamzee gave him the topic of fishdicks. But in the end, the 'victim' turntechGodhead turned the tables on them. Reverse trolling was not something Tavros grasped so easily and just took the guy as a friendly one. He had no idea what Gamzee was getting so pissed off about when he told TG to "FuCk OfF" and blocked him.

He was just talking about his poor disabled snake. Did Gamzee have a thing against snakes? Tavros would never know, because Gamzee just decided to go to bed after that saying he needed to take some of his medicine in the morning.

But that's the thing, whenever Gamzee wanted to sleepover, there was another bedroom in Tavros' apartment. It was practically Gamzee's room now, and that's where he went to sleep last night but he must've crawled into Tavros' bed when the smaller man went to sleep. As Tavros crawled to the side of the bed, he kept casting glancing towards Gamzee to make sure he stayed asleep. Tavros was just really self conscious with his best friend being that close to him and sharing the same bed.

He made it into his wheelchair that was conviniently placed next to the bed for easy access. Once in the safty of his only sorce of transportation, Tavros wheeled himself out of his room and to the bathroom. Thankfully, the sink was at a point where Tavros could lean against it on his elbows as he brushed his teeth and washed up for the day. As he looked at his watch he saw it was around 4 PM. He really slept in too late...

And holy shit it was a Monday. He was supposed be at work at the flower shop by 3.

Forgetting about breakfast, Tavros wheeled himself back into the bedroom to see Gamzee was still fast asleep. Getting closer to Gamzee's side of the bed, he began shaking him. "Gamzee? Gamzee, I overslept and I have to go to the shop right away!" Tavros was shaking Gamzee, but he would budge awake, he just growled for him to go away.

"But Gamzee you always drive me, and it's been raining since we fell asleep!" Tavros was really worried, he'd come into his job late too many times before due to sleeping in and animal related incidents. Gamzee slapped Tavros' hand away. "You can get there by your fucking self can't you?" He growled, and Tavros pulled away from Gamzee with wide eyes. Gamzee never talked to him like that, and it kind of worried him. He was silent for a while before trying again, "Gamzee... C-could you please drive me there today...?" He asked, and this time Gamzee opened his eyes to glare at Tavros' brown ones. He didn't say anything, just glared daggers at him and Tavros got the memo. He wheeled away from Gamzee's side of the bed and to the door. He couldn't help the surge of helplessness that overcame him. He'd be sure to apologize to Gamzee later for annoying him this morning.

Tavros got dressed into a simple chocolate brown dress shirt and some dark jeans that were folded in order to not get in the way. What was left of his legs were just barely below the knee. But he was glad he still had what was left of them. He grabbed his light jacket and put it on, as well as the hood.

He wheeled out of his apartment, softly closing the door. Living on the third floor in this apartment complex would have been a big problem for Tavros, but luckily they had elevators as well as stairs. He observed that it really was still raining. He mentally prepared himself and lifted up his hood before leaving the cover of the building and into the pouring rain. He decided he should really stop leaving his umbrella in Gamzee's car.

At some point when Tavros was wheeling himself towards work, his cellphone started ringing. He'd gone probably a mile by then, all he had left was another half and he'd be there. Quickly, he took the cellphone from his pocket and answered without seeing who it was.

"Hello?"  
"Hello Tavros!" It was his co-worker, Nepeta Leijon. She was a sweet little readhead and always cared for him as the good friend she was.

"May I ask why you aren't here yet?" She asked softly and with concern.

"I slept in this morning and Gamzee couldn't drive me today..." He explained, trying to continue wheeling himself while speaking with Nepeta on the phone.

"Oh, but it's raining! Do you have an umbrella with you?" Nepeta sounded worried, the last thing Tavros needed was to cause others to worry. He was perfectly fine.

"Yeah, I have an umbrella," He lied for the sake of easing Nepeta's concern. "I'm almost there, don't worry." Tavros said with a soft chuckle and Nepeta hummed.

"Welllll okay... I'll make some delicious coffee fur when you get back!" She said cheerfully causing Tavros to smile. "Thanks, I'll see you there, Nepeta." He said before hanging up.

It really didn't take much longer for him to get there. He entered the slightly large flowershop and was overcome with a rush of warm air. He hadn't realized how cold he was until now.

His jacket was soaking wet, as well as parts of his pants. He hung his jacket on the coat hanger beside the door and adjusted his fairly dry shirt. As Tavros looked around he saw Nepeta had brought him some of the smaller plants that were outside in order to keep them from 'drowning' due to the pouring rain outside. He wish he could have been there to help.

Nepeta was walking from the secluded back of the shop, and into the selling floor. In the back of the shop was like a cozy livingroom, with a kitchen for the staff to store their lunches or make coffee.

"Hey Tavros! Even though you're late, you came just in time fur the coffee!" She said cheerfully, as she handed him a large cup of coffee. It was warm, just like the atmosphere in the shop and it made him smile. "Thanks Nepeta." He said softly before taking a sip of the coffee. It was hot, but he was used to the sensation by now. He drank coffee almost everymorning at during work, or before. As he tasted the warm liquid, he also tasted a hint of chocolate. Nepeta knew him so well, she had added a bit of chocolate powder in it, just how he liked it.

"Well, I'll work on the cash register today. It doesn't look like we'll be getting much business. Oh, and we've got a whole lot of roses that need trimming! Could you purr-lease trim them into bouquets?" Nepeta asked, making her way to the cash register. Tavros was putting on the red apron that all employees of the flower shop wore. "Sure Nepeta." He said smiling. The selling floor seemed smaller than usual, only because Nepeta had to bring in the smaller flowers from the ever lasting storm outside.

Tavros got the garden shears from the supplies case beside the counter where the cash register was and wheeled across the selling floor to where the rose bushes were held in several pots.

They varies from lovely red roses to white ones. Most of them were yellow, orange, and only one rose bush consiste of some natural barely blue flowers. These were rare and sold at a higher price than the others. He decided to put the blue roses aside, he didn't want to cut these yet. He got to work, cutting several red roses and used a thorn stripper over a garbage can where the pointed thorns would fall into. Occasionally a few thorns would manage to pierce one of his fingers, oh well that was his fault. He would usually leave his garden gloves somewhere at home. Finally once he was done stripping a dozen roses from their thorns, he would bound them together with a silky red ribbon, tying a perfect bow with it. He'd done this so many times, he never messed up when making a bow from ribbon.

He'd gone through about four dozen bouquets of red roses when the bell at the front door rang, signaling there was a customer. Actually, it was just Vriska. She worked here too, Tavros didn't mind, but sometimes she was just too much for him to handle.

"Taaaaaaaavroooooooos~" She made his name sound extra expanded today, she must be in a good mood despite the face she was dripping wet from the rain. The blonde set her wet jacket on the coat rack beside Tavros' and got her apron from the counter. She put it on as she was walking towards Tavros where she knelt down to give him a hug.

"Uh, hey, Vriska." He said hestitating before hugging her back. When she pulled away she set her hands on her hips and looked at the work Tavros had done. "Not bad, Toreador." She called him by his actual nickname and not a less friendly version of it. Something was definitely up. "Um.. Thanks, Vriska... Could you help me do the rest?" He asked, giving her a nervous smile. She flashed a toothy smile in return, "Sure." She said as she pulled a chair up next to him and got to work picking the roses while he stripped them of their thorns.

"So... Any reason why you're so, uh, positive today?" He asked reluctantly, not taking his eyes off of the roses in his hand.

"Hmmmm... Not really." She said, also not making eye contact.

Tavros smiled and looked at her from the side of his eye. He liked it when she was like this. She caught his stare and they both started laughing. It was rare that they would ave little friendly moments like this, and all Tavros wanted to do was cherish it.

"Are you doing anything after work?" She asked him, still smiling after bursting into laughter a few seconds ago.

"The usual... Since it's a Monday." He replied, his smile lessening to a small grin.

Vriska raised her eyebrows, "Ooooh." She understood what he was planning on doing today.

"Uh, it will only take a few minutes. Want to come with me? We can go back to my apartment and, uh, order pizza or something." He said nervously.

She looked at him and smiled. "Sure. Should I bring flowers for her?" Vriska asked, her attention back to cutting the roses.

"That would be nice..." Tavros said going back to stripping the rose's thorns. He always got this dazed expression whenever he spoke about his mother.

"... Forget-me-not's right?" She asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"Mhm." He hummed, a dreamy smile gracing his face. Vriska smiled a little seeing him this way. She was never this nice or friendly. Today seemed to be Tavros' lucky day.

Only a few hours later and it was 7:30 PM. Closing time. Today had been slow, no customers. They usually had many customers all week, but apparently no one wanted flowers when it was pouring rain outside- which it still was at this time of day. Nepeta held open the door for Vriska and Tavros. "I'll lock it up tonight, goodnight!" Nepeta said cheerfully. The two bid farewell to her and made their way to the parking lot to Vriska's car. Tavros sat in the front, folding his wheelchair and Vriska put it in the backseat.

"You remember where it is right?" Tavros asked and Vriska nodded, keeping her eyes on the road as she exited the parking lot. Her windshield wipers were pushing away the now softer raindrops that fell from the cloudy sky above.

They pulled up to the high maintenance, well kept graveyard and Vriska helped tavros out. They both had their jackets and hoods on.

Vriska helped wheel Tavros' wheelchair up the path as Tavros told her where to go.

They made it to a grave that was seemingly identical to the others surrounding it, the only thing that separated it from the others were the words engraved on it. The grave was overshadowed by an oaktree that partially shielded them from the rain above, but they still had their hoods on. Beyond and not too far from this certain grave was overgrown with trees creating a complex forest.

Vriska knelt onto the wet green grass and gently set down the bouquet of blue forget-me-not flowers in front of the grave. She looked at Tavros for a second who smiled at her. It was new to see her act so kindly. She'd been here before with him, but never really brought any flowers for his mother's grave.

She stayed kneeling beside Tavros' wheelchair and let him speak to his Mother's grave as she's seen him do many times before.

"Hey mom." He said softly, still smiling. Of course there was silence except for the sound of raindrops falling around them.

"This is my friend Vriska Serket. I think she's come her before. Do you remember her?" He continued. "I'm surprised you didn't leave a flower here earlier today... But that's okay. It was raining all day." This earned a small glance from Vriska. He was still talking to his mother, it was strange, but whatever.

Tavros stayed quiet for a few minutes ocasionally looking at the trees not too far from the grave he was at.

"Ummm, are you waiting for something?" Vriska asked raising an eyebrow. Tavros opened his mouth as if to speak, but he quickly closed it and looked deep in thought. "Well, actually, yeah." He replied a bit timidly.

"For what exactly?" Vriska asked. She was shivering now from the rain.

"My- uh... A rabbit." He replied a bit reluctantly.

Vriska looked at him like he was crazy. "Like hell a rabbit would wanna come over here in this weather. They have lives too ya know. Let's get going." She said standing. Tavros looked up at her a bit worriedly, "Can we wait just a few more minutes?" He asked a little too fast. The blonde sighed, "Yeah, just a few more minutes."

A few more minutes did pass and Vriska was getting impatient. Her arms were crossed as she glared at Tavros who looked a bit worried. He kept staring at the trees ahead and glancing at his mothers grave, giving it a somewhat nervous smile.

"Fuck, Tavros it's been like twenty minutes. I think we should get going." She said, her irritation showing.

Tavros didn't reply for a while.

"Um... Y-you can go if you want... We can always hang out again some other time..." He said loking at her reassuringly.

Vriska scowled at him. "So you're gonna plan a date and just ruin it waiting for your mom to come out of the grave or something?!" She yelled at him. Tavros looked at her with wide eyes, he opened his mouth to apologize and explain himself, bbut Vriska stomped her foot in annoyance.

"I was actually feeling pretty good today, Tav. This is the LAST time I decide to spend a little 'quality' time with such a lame-ass cripple like you." She growled and turned to leave. "Oh, and the next time you decide to take a girl somewhere, it probably shouldn't start off with grave of your dead mother." She huffed and walked away with such a bad mood.

'B-but she knew this was what I do on Mondays...' He thought, looking at his hands in his lap.

"Where are you?" He asked looking at his mother's grave with a nervous look.

He'd left the flower shop at 7:30 and it was around 9 o'clock at the moment. He'd waited here for half an hour or so since Vriska left. He was currently a nervous wreck, this just never happened before.

"Maybe she's in the garden..." Tavros, wheeled himself away from the grave, and towards the overgrowth of trees.

It was hard trying to move through the wet grass, but in the small, barely noticeable opening in the trees, the grass was a lot less dense than it was behind him. It was very dark, and Tavros squinted his eyes a bit in order to see ahead of him the path that would lead to the abandoned garden he discovered at one point in his nineteen years of living in this town.

He looked around at the flowers and trees that were naturally lit by the moonlight above. There were few clouds above him at this point.

Despite the beautiful sight in front of him, he felt nothing but emptiness within him. He looked around the garden, wheeling down the path.

There was no sight of any animals, and Tavros really didn't want to be here at the moment. Without the familiar feeling of warmth and friendly glow, he just felt scared being here. He quickly turned around back towards the growth of trees where the small path led back to the rest of the graveyard.

Vriska left him with her car, leaving him to wheel himself back home to his apartment complex. This was an unfamiliar feeling he had been feeling, he felt scared and empty as he quickly wheeled himself towards his apartment complex. Gamzee probably left already and it was a little too late to be calling him to pick him up right now. Besides, based on what happened before work, Tavros decided he'd depended on Gamzee a little too much. The guy deserved a break, in his eyes.

The rain started pouring down heavily once more just when Tavros reached the complex. He thought the rain was just settling down before it began pouring again.

He made it to the elevator and to his floor. He wheeled towards the last door where his apartment was, when he felt a terrible surge of depression wash over him. That aching in his chest only increased as he got closer and closer to his apartment. He unlocked and opened the door to see Gamzee was standing outside on the porch, covered by the shield above him. The sliding doors leading to the porch was closed and Tavros could see Gamzee was smoking a cigarette, with his cell phone in hand. Tavros closed the door behind him before wheeling towards the sliding doors and knocked on them, getting Gamzee's attention. He heard the taller man curse, before shoving his phone in his pocket and crushing his cigarette in an ashtray while he made his way towards the sliding doors and inside.

"Tavbro, where the fuck were you? I've been calling your motherfuckin' cellphone for an hour, but you wouldn't answer." Gamzee said kneeling in front of Tavros, gently holding his shoulders.

"Oh, it um, wasn't ringing..." Tavros said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "The battery is dead." He stated before placing it on his lap, giving it a somber look.

"You okay, Tav?" Gamzee asked, trying to get Tavros to look at him.

"Mhm..." He replied.

"You feeling sick or anything?" Gamzee asked, placing a hand on Tavros' tanned forehead, under the light brown hair that was damp and swept across his forehead like bangs, he usually styled his mohawk swept back, but the weather ruined his look today. "I'm just a little cold." He said gently pushing Gamzee's hand away, taking of his jacket.

"... Why were you gone so motherfucking long?" Gamzee asked, sitting down on the black leather couch. "I stopped by the graveyard after work." Tavros explained, wheeling himself towards his room. Gamzee looked at his retreating form, honestly a bit worried for him. Tav was usually so bright after visiting his mother, he wondered what got him so upset tonight.

As Tavros closed the door to his room, the dark feeling that was gripping his heart only got bigger. It was drawing him towards the wall across from his bed.

He got closer to the wall and tried listening to whatever was on the other side, no doubt it was his neighbor. He heard some music, it wasn't very loud. He could also here a voice, though he couldn't make out what it was saying. For a second Tavros felt a little pain course through his body.

What the hell was his neighbor doing? There must be something going on next door if Tavros was feeling this way.

He couldn't spend the rest of tonight with this feeling, he quickly wheeled himself out of the room and towards the entrance.

"Where are you going, Tavbro?" Gamzee questioned. He was in the kitchen, making a sandwich probably. Tavros didn't mind, Gamzee was welcomed to do whatever he wanted here since he did help Tavros pay the rent. Gamzee was just slightly on the rich side is all.

"I'm just going to talk to the neighbor." Tavros said softly, exiting the apartment. Once in the hallway, he looked at the door next-door. The source of this drowning feeling was definitely coming from his neighbor's apartment.

He hesitated before knocking. Was he really gonna be that weird neighbor, stopping by at 10 PM just because he got a 'feeling'? Yep. He was.

Tavros knocked three times softly before he heard a male voice from inside. "Coming!" He heard from the other side of the door. Tavros fumbled with his hands in his lap for a second as heard footsteps getting closer to the door. It opened, revealing a tall blonde man, around six feet tall. He has sunglasses on, which seemed weird, but that wasn't the first thing Tavros noticed.

"Hey, what's up?" The blonde asked looking down at Tavros.

Tavros was speechless as he glanced up at the stranger. He was still fumbling his his hands, and he had a distressed expression. That depressing feeling only grew when the blonde had opened the door.

"U-Um... I-I, uhm... I-Is there a... Um..." Tavros stuttered uncontrollably, he was in fact feeling just as distressed as he looked. "You okay, dude?" The blonde asked raising an eyebrow. Tavros looked up to him, but quickly glancing back down at his hands.

"..." Tavros didn't say anything, he felt really nervous at the moment and felt like he would die any moment.

"You don't look so good, want to come inside?" The stranger asked nicely, opening the door a bit more with an inviting attitude, but it was hidden from the gloomy feeling Tavros felt lied within the apartment.

"O-okay..." Why did he agree to that?

"Come on in." The blonde said kindly, letting Tavros wheel himself inside. The inside of the apartment felt even worse than it did outside.

Tavros quickly looked around, and his gaze stopped at a slightly opened door leading to the bedroom probably. He just felt all of the negativity coming from there.

"Do you want a drink or someth-"

"W-what's in your room?" Tavros cut him off abruptly. He mentally slapped himself for sounding so straightforward.

The blonde looked towards the room and back at Tavros.

"Uh, why? Do you see something?" He asked scratching the back of his head.

Tavros looked up at him nervously.

"D-did you kill something in there?"

Well that came out of nowhere, but it was the first thing that came to Tavros' mind, and it caught the blonde off-guard.

"What do you mean dude?" He asked, giving Tavros a strange look.

"I-I think you killed something in t-there." Tavros said nervously glancing from the bedroom door then to his neighbor.

"Are you a psychic or somethin'? I didn't kill anything, come and look." He said walking towards the bedroom, beckoning Tavros to take a look inside.

He wheeled himself reluctantly towards the bedroom door.

The first thing that caught his eye was not the jars of preserved dead things, but the animal on the white bed that was covered with a sky-blue colored towel.

Tavros wheeled past the stranger and towards the shivering rabbit that was oozing distress.

He quickly pulled the blankets away from the little rabbit and saw the little brown marking on the all white rabbit's tail and lower back. The rabbit looked up at Tavros and limped towards him like it's life depended on it and he gently picked her up and gently into his warm loving arms.

"Is that your rabbit?" The blonde asked confused. The female rabbit didn't want anything to do with him earlier, but it bounded straight towards Tavros as soon as he was close enough.

Tavros looked up at Dave. "Y-Yes it is! Why do you have her? And why is she limping? What's wrong with her?" He asked, hugging the rabbit close to his chest. Tavros suspected the blond hurt her somehow, and he glared at the taller man.

"I just found it on the side of the road on my way home, it was spazzing out on the side of the road!" He explained, putting his hands up in surrender. "I didn't do anything, but bring her home and take advice over the phone from a vet and wrapped up her foot. It was bleeding." He explained further calming Tavros down a bit.

"... What's your name?" Tavros asked him, still seemingly on edge. The fact that he found his rabbit, injured in this guy's apartment was more than enough for Tavros to feel completely uneasy.

"Dave Strider."


	4. Kathleen

**Nyeh I couldn't come up with a name for the chapter so, whoooo! Name of a one time appearing character! The girl is just used to help describe what a day at work for Dave was.**

**Thank you for reviewing fandomPhantom  
I was honestly not thinking about uploading another chapter until I got your review c: You put me in the mood yay!**

**I hope to get some more uplifting reviews to keep me going! Thank you all for reading**

* * *

"You're music is hot!"

"My what?"

"I said your music is hot!" She repeated to the DJ over the blasting music from the speakers at the side.

"I know, bro." Dave replied smiling that cool smile. Everything about Dave Strider was cool. His pale golden hair that had bangs that were side swept across his face, his cool expensive sunglasses, his cool expressions, those cool freckles. Damn. Everything on Strider was cool.

The fact that he had girls practically lining up to chat with him made him cool. He pressed a button on the mixer, playing the rest of the homemade beats so he could take a break.

Although it was Monday, the club was still packed with people. Mostly young adults who decided partying everyday of the week in the summer was a good idea. But hey, Dave wasn't complaining.

He walked towards the bar across the club. He took a seat on one of the stools and ordered the usual. The bartender poured him some of the alcohol and slid it towards Dave on the counter. He gulped down a decent amount of the alcohol, he was thirsty and alcohol was fine to quench his thirst. It was ice cold and cooled him down from the hot atmosphere the club had.

He looked up from his beverage as a girl sat on the stool beside him. He looked her up and down, as it seemed she was doing the same thing to him. Dave was used to it though, girls, and occasionally guys, did the same to him practically everyday at work.

"Hey, Strider." The girl said. She had her legs crossed, showing off an immodest amount of skin from her short, strapless violet dress. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. Dave would admit she looked pretty hot.

He smiled that signature cool kid smile of his. "Sup" He simply said. Oh wow he was such a panty dropper.

The girl giggled and ordered a drink. Once given to her, she contiued talking to Dave.

Turns out her name was Kathleen. She was hot. She liked Dave. Dave likes hot girls, so why not?

They were practically making out with each other, Dave sitting on the stool with Kathleen on his lap. This was normal for him, he had a new girl every week. Possibly even every day.

They parted ways to take a deep breath of air. Kathleen seemed restless and lustful, she wanted more, but honestly Dave wasn't quite feeling it for today. It was a Monday,, he didn't particularly like to take girls home on Mondays.

"Listen Kat," He panted while she smirked at him, arms wrapped around his neck. "I gotta get going right about now, my time's up for tonight." He told her, despite the situation, he was still polite about it. That's just Dave. Kind and cool.

She sighed and lept off of his lap. "Can I get your number at least?" She asked looking at him expectingly. "Oh sure." Dave replied, taking out his phone and giving her his number. At least now he has a girl to look forward to banging in the future.

They finally parted ways and Dave was now in the parking lot. It was a little chilly tonight with the rain and all, he was glad he brought his hooded jacket with him today.

He was now driving down the main road, out of the city and now towards his apartment complex. The rain was letting up slightly when he saw this little white thing on the side of the road. He slowed his car as he came closer to the creature. It was a rabbit. And there was blood surrounding it on the ground. He looked out his window for any passing cars. There was practically no one here. The road was lit only by a scarce amount of streetlights and the headlights from his own car.

Dave exited his car and walked over to the bleeding rabbit. He took an old sweatshirt out from his car and gently wrapped it around the rabbit, it struggled against him, he wished it would stop since it was only causing the rabbit's injury more pain. He held it in the sweatshirt tightly, but not too hard as he set it down in the passenger seat.

As Dave continued on to his apartment complex, he glanced at the rabbit from time to time only to see it was shaking beneath the sweatshirt. At least now it wasn't freaking out like earlier.

Finally getting to the apartment, he sat on his couch, the shaking rabbit on his lap. It would struggle to escape every now and then, but Dave held it firmly, his cell phone in his other hand dialing the number to the local veterinarian clinic.

"Hello?"A female voice answered.

"Uh, hey. I just found a rabbit on the side of the road, it's foot was bleeding badly, I think it got cut by something? I don't really know what to do at the moment. I have it wrapped up in a sweatshirt right now." Dave told the lady.

About thirty minutes passed by with the lady telling Dave how to properly cleanse the wound and wrapping it up with some gauze.

He set the rabbit gently on his mattress, far from the side so it wouldn't fall off. His bedroom received the portion of the heat from the heating system, so this was the best place for the shivering stressed rabbit that was now wrapped in a baby blue towel.

He had no idea what he would do with this rabbit tomorrow, he wasn't really a responsible guy for keeping a pet.

He hoped something or someone would take it off his hands.

* * *

"Mind telling me your name now?" Dave asked Tavros, who was still a bit shaken up after seeing his precious creature injured.

"... Tavros Nitram." He replied reluctantly. He saw Dave's eyebrows raise.

"Never heard that name before, where you from?" The blonde asked making his way over to the bed where Tavros was beside on his wheelchair, Dave sat on the bed. The springs within the mattress were heard on impact.

"New Jersey..." Tavros replied, still reluctant and suspicious of his neighbor, Dave. The rabbit in his arms was shivering and it's eyes seemed dilated due to stress. Tavros looked down at the creature that was carefully held against is chest, and gently pat it's head. The rabbit wasn't looking anywhere else, but him. It was as if Tavros was a magnet and the rabbit was the purest of metal, it would not leave the comfort of his arms.

"No, I mean your ethnic background." Dave explained further and Tavros felt slightly like an idiot at the moment.

"I'm a Spaniard..." He replied shyly. He was always shy around strangers, but in this situation he was also a bit tense.

"Cool, straight from Spain?" Dave asked further and Tavros nodded, Dave seemed friendly, he was sure acting polite at the moment.

"That's cool, man. I'm pretty sure I'm European, but as far as I know, I'm just American." Dave said, leaning on his arms on the bed. Tavros couldn't really tell due to the sunglasses, but Dave has a dreamy expression on his pale, slightly freckled face. As if he was wondering where his parents' parents had come from.

"It'd be cool to know some of these things." He continued and Tavros nodded, looking down at the rabbit, not wanting to make eye contact with Dave. That'd just be awkward. Tavros was awkward. Everything is awkward... Well, according to Tavros Nitram that's how it is.

It was silent and Tavros looked over at Dave. He appeared to have that dreamy expression still, and Tav wanted to take this opportunity to as a question.

"Uh... Do you know exactly why she was um... Spazzing out on the road?" Tavros questioned, referring to what Dave said earlier about the injured rabbit in his arms.

"Well, I was driving home from the club- I'm a DJ- and I was driving slowly since the sun was setting and it was raining pretty hard, I see a shiny speck of white moving around on the side of the road and when I drive by I see it's a rabbit. There was blood all around it, so I was a little worried. I picked her up and brought her home, her left leg was bleeding. A lot. So I called a Vet for advice and they told me to clean it then wrap it up with gauze. That's all." Dave explained.

Tavros felt less tense. Dave was just trying to help Tavros' beloved rabbit that was somehow injured. But that was the thing that scared him the most. It was his little angel. It wasn't supposed to get hurt. It wasn't supposed to feel pain. Maybe Tavros was just being weird...

"W-Well thanks for um... Helping her." Tavros said his thanks and Dave smiled in return.

"Anytime, bro." He replied. The rabbit in Tavros' lap made some frantic squeaking noises when he put her on his lap instead of against his chest. He soothes it by gently running his fingers through it's long, thick white fur.

"I-I better get going..." Tavros said timidly ad Dave nodded. He stood up walking Tavros to the door. "See you later bro." Dave answered and Tavros flashed a small quick smile at him before leaving towards his own apartment.

* * *

**Yes I have an idea of what happen to Tav's little rabbit, and as for the rabbit's meaning, it's up to you to decipher it's true meaning throughout the story! Here's a little info; Its an all white rabbit with a small brown patch on it's tail and back. The patch of brown on it's back resembles the Taurus symbol. It's held dear to Tavros because he thinks it has a strong connection with his deceased mother.**

**There's the info you get at the moment, I hope you are all enjoying the story so far :) please leave a review! **


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